Trump Asks Vance to Focus on 'Corruption and Crime' in Democrat-Run Cities and States

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Vice President JD Vance to focus his 'complete and total attention' on alleged widespread corruption and crime in Democrat-led cities and states, accusing blue state leaders of allowing billions of dollars to be stolen each month.

In a Truth Social post, Trump singled out Minnesota, California and Illinois as examples of states he claims are plagued by corruption and mismanagement, arguing that cracking down on the alleged criminal activity could help balance the federal budget.

Trump wrote: 'I have asked Vice President Vance to focus his complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States throughout the U.S.' He continued: 'The Blue States, such as Minnesota, California, Illinois, and many more, are all poorly run, corrupt disasters. Billions of Dollars is being stolen each and every month.'

Trump did not, however, provide specific examples in his post of how billions of dollars are allegedly being stolen each month.

Vance already leads the White House's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which Trump established through a March 16 executive order aimed at combating fraud, waste and abuse in federally funded benefit programs.

The task force is charged with coordinating federal efforts to strengthen eligibility verification, prevent improper payments and identify suspected fraud in government benefit programs.

The executive order also identified Minnesota, California and Illinois among the states where the administration alleged widespread fraud or vulnerabilities in government benefit programs.

In October, Fox News Digital reported that the Vance-led task force was preparing to announce criminal charges against more than 40 defendants in an alleged 40 million dollar Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud scheme.

At the time, the task force reported identifying 260.7 billion dollars in suspected fraud since Trump took office and preventing an estimated 72 billion dollars in potentially fraudulent payments on an annualised basis. Those figures have not been independently verified.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump's latest directive would expand Vance's existing responsibilities or signal a renewed emphasis on investigating alleged corruption in Democratic-led jurisdictions. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Department of Justice for comment on the president's directive and the allegations of widespread fraud.

Trump also suggested that eliminating the alleged corruption could help balance the federal budget. 'Our Budget could be quickly BALANCED with the correction of this large scale criminal activity,' he wrote, before adding: 'CORRUPTION is in the Democrat Leadership's blood!' The president did not explain how eliminating the alleged corruption would balance the federal budget.

Trump then pivoted to Iran, declaring that the United States no longer needs to negotiate a deal with Tehran. 'We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed,' he wrote. 'We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!' Trump did not elaborate on his claims regarding Iranian funds or the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important waterway for global energy shipments. Fox News Digital also reached out to the State Department for clarification on the president's remarks regarding Iran.